PHILIPPINE DWARF KINGFISHER
Ceyx melanurus
Family Alcedinidae

endemic, uncommon
L 121 - 132 mm (4 3/4" - 5 1/4")

Bird # 425 - July 2013

In the Kennedy guide it says that this bird "darts invisibly from perch to perch". It is the "tiniest forest kingfisher in the Philippines". It and flies very quickly, making it difficult to see unless it is perched. In the Kennedy guide its habit is described as "found in virgin and second growth forest, not along streams, usually near the ground ... Nest and eggs unknown". In the IUCN Red List where it is listed as vulnerable, its habitat is described by Desmond Allen as "It is a lowland specialist, inhabiting forest understorey and secondary growth from sea-level to 750 m. Although it frequents watercourses, mainly small streams, probably for foraging, any association with them appears to be no more incidental than obligate. It appears to prefer regions of high rainfall." In the IUCN site it says "It appears to be generally scarce or rare, but it is secretive and difficult to observe and consequently may be under-recorded. "

We observed what appeared to be a pair with a nest above a stream. Bob Natural of Polillo Islands Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Inc. reported seeing a Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher at an easily accessible site that would regularly return to the same perch. When we observed the first individual, we noticed that it flew downwards from its perch. Then we saw that there was a nesting hole below the perch. Later we saw a second individual and we were also able to observe one bird leaving the nest hole while the other bird perched above.